


The Bravest I Know

by sophieelivingston



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sleepover Fic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Zombies, baby boyfs, boyf riends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:52:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophieelivingston/pseuds/sophieelivingston
Summary: Michael was so excited for his first sleepover with Jeremy, but he probably shouldn't have suggested telling scary stories right before going to bed.





	The Bravest I Know

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to make Jeremy's stuffed bear and baby blanket two head cannons of mine that you'll probably find some of my other stories yet to come. As well as Michael's stuffed blue cat which I imagine looks like the weird blue cat patch on his hoodie in the NY reboot. 
> 
> Also, Michael's moms names in my stories belong to @hoodietunes on tumbler, who drew a beautiful fan art portrait of the Mell family.  
> Go see it!
> 
> Oh, and the boyfs are seven years old in this fic btw.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Be More Chill in anyway way possible.

Michael stood at the kitchen window, staring out at his front yard, eagerly waiting for his best friend Jeremy to arrive for their very first sleepover ever.

“Ugh, what’s taking him so long mom?” He asked one of his mothers, Ligaya, who was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking her morning tea.

“Michael, it’s only 10 am!” she chuckled, “Jeremy won’t be here until five.”

“How long is that?”

“Seven hours.” His other mom, Camila, answered as she sat down at the table.

“SEVEN HOURS!?” Michael frantically yanked on the windowsill and whined “But I want the sleepover to start now!”

Ligaya got up from her seat, pulled Michael’s hands away from the windowsill before wrecking it and said “And it will, you’ll just have to wait ok bud.”

As she walked back to the table, Michael propped his head against the glass and groaned, for he thought he’d never make it through the day without dying of boredom. Nevertheless, the excitement of his first sleepover with Jeremy kept him alive. Michael voluntarily cleaned his room and made his bed for the first time in forever, brought out every single video game he had for them to play, and even convinced his moms to let them camp out in the backyard, as long as they set up the tent themselves.

‘This is gonna be the best sleepover ever!’ he thought.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the Heere house, Mr. Heere was helping his son Jeremy finish up packing for his sleepover with Michael. While he was nervous about his son’s first night away from home, he knew that Jeremy was also nervous about spending the night somewhere else, so he had to be supportive and brave for the both of them. Plus, it was nice that he finally had a friend to be there for him, especially since his mother left the year before.

“Alright I think that’s everything.” he said as he zipped up Jeremy’s duffel bag by the front door. “Ready to go private?”

Jeremy stood in front of his father while holding his pillow nervously and said “Uh... actually dad, I’m not so sure about this pillow, let me go grab a different one.”

As Jeremy ran upstairs, Mr. Heere was initially confused at first, but knew that whatever his son needed in order to be comfortable away from home was necessary. Jeremy soon returned with what seemed to be the exact same pillow, but it didn’t phase Mr. Heere that much. They then packed Jeremy’s duffel bag in the car and drove off to Michael’s.

 

* * *

 

Once they arrived, all of Jeremy’s worries melted away upon seeing the big smile on Michael’s face.

“Hi Jeremy!” He said ecstatically.

“Hi!”

“This is gonna be so much fun! Wanna go play video games in my room?”

“Yeah!”

After giving his dad a hug goodbye, Jeremy raced Michael upstairs to the bedroom. Mr. Heere chatted with Michael’s moms for a bit, telling them about Jeremy’s nerves of spending the night. Camila and Ligaya reassured him that they’d do their best to make Jeremy feel as comfortable as possible, before he said his goodbyes to them and left. Jeremy and Michael both played Pac-Man on Michael’s NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) classic together, until the pizza that they ordered arrived. Then they ate it while watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, before Ligaya and Camila informed them it was time for bed. While Michael promised his moms that he and Jeremy could set up the tent on their own, it turned out be a lot harder than it looked, and his moms ended up helping after all. The two boys then brushed their teeth, combed their hair, and put on their pyjamas. Jeremy wore Legend of Zelda themed pjs, while Michael wore Pac-Man themed pjs. They both had stuffed animals to sleep with as well. Jeremy had a teddy bear with a blue bow tie named ‘Butters’, and Michael had blue cat named ‘Blue’.

Before the they went inside their tent, Ligaya and Camila both kissed their son goodnight on the forehead.

Ligaya turned to Jeremy, and said “Now remember Jeremy, if there’s anything you need, you just come and tell us ok?”

“Ok Mrs. Mell.” he replied with a smile.

 

* * *

 

The two boys settled into their sleeping bags when Michael grabbed a flashlight and pointed it at his face.

“You ready for the best part of the entire night?” he asked.

Jeremy sat up and squinted from the flashlight’s bright glare. “What’s the best part?”

“Telling each other scary stories!” Michael answered with an evil grin.

“Mmmm I don’t know Michael.” Jeremy had this worried look that said he knew he wasn’t gonna like the stories Michael would share.

“Oh c’mon it’s fun! I’ll go first.” Michael angled the flashlight at his face just so, as Jeremy braced himself for what was to come.

“Once their was a hitchhiker on a dark road, looking for someone to give him a ride. When a mysterious truck pulled up in front of him. The hitchhiker was relived he got someone’s attention, but when the truck door opened, he realized... THE TRUCK HAD NO DRIVER!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Jeremy slumped down in disappointment and said “That wasn’t scary.”

“Oh yeah? Like you could do better.” Michael challenged Jeremy by handing him over the flashlight.

“Uhhh I don’t know.” While Jeremy knew that that story wasn’t scary enough, he didn’t exactly know any scary stories himself.

“C’mon, try and top it. I dare you!”

Jeremy knew he couldn’t back down from a dare, from his best friend no less, so he grabbed the flashlight and tried to think of something on the spot. He then decided to make something up as he went along.

“Alright, get ready for this one.” Jeremy said in a sinister voice, with an evil grin similar to Michael’s, angling the flashlight at his face.

“Once upon a time, there were... um... two best friends, just like us”

Michael giggled as Jeremy struggled to tell his story.

“Anyway, the two best friends decided to have the best sleepover ever, by camping out in one’s backyard, in a tent... just... like... this one-“

“ _Yawn._ ” Michael interrupted with a sarcastic yawn. “You’re just copying what’s happening right now. When are you getting to the scary part?”

“I am, just wait.” Jeremy continued his story.

“But what they didn’t realize, was that they were camping… on an ancient burial ground.”

“They were?”

“Yes, which meant… that… there were… hundreds of dead bodies lying deep beneath them. And legend had it, that if anyone ever tried to sleep on their ground, the undead would rise from the dirt, and drag their victims back down with them for revenge.”

Michael grabbed ‘Blue’ and held onto him, for the story was starting to get intense.

“It was the middle of the night when one of two friends woke up to a scream outside the tent. He looked over to an empty sleeping bag where the other friend was nowhere to be found. He went outside the tent to look for his best friend, and kept calling out his name to no response. The backyard was so dark that he couldn’t see a thing. And just when he thought he was alone… SOMETHING GRABBED HIM BY THE ANKLE! It was a cold and bony hand sticking out of the ground that had the boy in its grasp!”

Jeremy flickered the flashlight on and off for dramatic emphasis as Micheal clung tightly to ‘Blue’, practically shaking.

He didn’t want to show Jeremy his dread, so he forged a casual shrug, and said “I-is that all y-you’ve got, that’s-s so not s-scary at all.”

“Oh, well than let me take it up a notch! MUAHAHAHA!” Jeremy maniacally laughed with the flashlight shining on his face before continuing his story.

“He broke free of the bony hand, and fell onto the ground. When he got back up, a whole hoard of bony hands rose from the ground, across the yard. It was the undead. The Zombies climbed out from the dirt with their rotting flesh, blood dripping from their mouths, and their brains falling out. The boy ran straight into his house screaming. He locked the back door behind him, ran upstairs to his room, and locked that door behind him too. Just when he thought he was safe, he wondered whatever happened to to his best friend, and all of a sudden… SOMETHING BIT HIM! He felt something’s teeth sink into his shoulder. He fell to the ground in pain, and looked up to find out that… HIS BEST FRIEND WAS TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE!!! And in seconds… He was turned into one himself!”

“AHHHHHH!!!!”

“AHHHHHH!!!!”

While Jeremy’s scream was a fake one for fun, Micheal’s was genuinely out of horror. He was shaking a lot more than earlier, still clutching onto ‘Blue’, and rocking back and forth.

“Hahaha, you’re right Michael, this is fun!” Jeremy giggled.

“…y-y-yeah” Michael quivered as Jeremy yawned.

“Well, we should probably go to sleep now.”

“Uh huh.”

Jeremy lied down in his sleeping bag as Michael sat still in his place, not moving a muscle.

“Goodnight Michael.” Jeremy said sleepily, before turning off the flashlight and rolling over.

Michael jolted when the light went out, before returning to his stiff and scared position.

“Night.”

 

* * *

 

The weight of exhaustion eventually forced Michael to lie down in his sleeping bag, but that didn’t stop him from keeping his eyes wide open, darting from side to side. He listened closely to the sounds around him, the wind whistling in the trees, a neighbour’s dog barking down the street, a bunch of crickets chirping in the grass. Even though every strand of hair on his body stood up, Michael didn’t know what he was so afraid of.

‘Jeremy and I aren’t sleeping on the ancient burial ground from his story.’ He thought to himself. ’…Right?’

Michael kept asking himself the same question throughout the night until he lost track of time. Has it been 1 hour, 3 hours, 5 hours?

‘Is it too early for breakfast? Probably.’ It was still pretty dark out.

Micheal just couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, and was about to drift off, when he suddenly heard something from outside.

“UGHHHHhhhh…” It was a heinous and veil moan, a sound that Michael thought belonged to only a monster.

He looked towards Jeremy, who was still sound asleep in his bag.

“Jeremy, Jeremy.” Michael whispered in Jeremy’s ear as he tried to shake his best friend awake, but Jeremy didn’t budge.

The moaning abruptly stopped, but it didn’t detour Michael from wondering what was out there. After five minutes of debating with himself wether he should go out there or not, he tensely made his decision. He grabbed the flashlight, and carefully stepped outside the tent. Michael’s eyes went back to darting nervously from side to side, as he waited for something to jump out of the pitch black darkness, and get him. It was so dark out, he couldn’t he see a thing, even with the flashlight on. In fact the night was so black, it’s like it wasn’t even real.

SNAP!

Michael jumped out of his skin as he frantically waved the flashlight in all directions, searching for whatever made that sound. He convinced himself that it was probably just a twig or a branch breaking off of an aging tree. But when he started to calm down, Michael felt something move swiftly behind him.

He was not alone.

Michael backed away from the movement, but felt something brush up against his ankle. He let out a little shriek, stumbled backwards, and fell to the ground. With the flashlight still in his grip, he pointed it in the direction of whatever touched him. Michael couldn’t believe his eyes, for what he saw was the very hand from Jeremy’s story, sticking out of the ground in plain sight. It was bony enough to be ancient, and pale enough to be dead, but judging by the way it was moving, it was very much alive. Though feeling too stricken to move, Michael knew what happened next in the story, and wasn’t going to waste another second staying put. He immediately got up and started to head for his back door, but than realized something. Jeremy was still in the tent. Michael looked back at the little shelter, now surrounded by the dead bodies starting to rise from the ground. In a split second made decision, Michael ran back towards the tent to save his friend. He was scared out of his wits of course, but he knew he’d rather get mauled by zombies, then have Jeremy be mauled first. Michael opened the flaps of the tent as the zombies inched closer and closer to him. When he saw that Jeremy was nowhere to be found, his heart sank.

Michael panicked as he thought to himself. ’If Jeremy had disappeared like in the story, that means-“

“MICHAEL!”

Michael felt the sense of relief drape over him like a warm blanket, when he heard Jeremy calling him from the back porch. Although he couldn’t really see Jeremy when he checked the patio, he could just make out his friend’s silhouette in the darkness as it ran inside. Michael followed after it, and shut door behind him. He then locked it and stuck a chair from the kitchen underneath the doorknob. He looked outside to see the hoard of zombies limping towards the house before closing the all curtains downstairs. Michael then realized, he didn’t notice where Jeremy ran off too. He assumed that his friend ran to Michael’s bedroom to take cover, so he decided to do the same, and ran upstairs.

As he went past his moms room, he was too scared to slow down, so he just yelled “MOMS WE’RE BEING ATTACKED BY ZOMBIES!”, ran into his room, and locked the door behind him. The poor little boy’s head was spinning so fast with fear, he backed away slowly from the door, breathing hysterically. When all of a sudden, something cold and dead grabbed Michael’s arm. It was a hand that would only belong to the undead corpses outside. It turned him around, and he was face to face with Jeremy. Only it wasn’t Jeremy. Eyes completely white and lifeless, his skin rotting in decay, and blood dripping from his mouth. Michael didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed that Jeremy’s story was true. The two _were_ sleeping on an ancient burial ground, there _were_ hundreds of zombies attempting to drag them down to their graves. And worst of all, Jeremy _has_ turned into a zombie!

“AHHHHHH!!!!” Michael screamed as Jeremy held onto his arm in a tight grip.

He started to shake it around as he groaned in a zombie like tone “ _Michael.”_

Michael kept screaming and tried to pull away, but Jeremy just shook his arm around more violently, as if he was trying to pull it off.

His voice then changed from a zombie like tone, to a frantic scream. “ _MICHAEL!_ ”

He just kept screaming over and over again.

“ _MICHAEL!_

_MICHAEL!_

_MICHAEL!_ ”

Michael then opened his eyes to realize that Jeremy wasn’t a zombie, and he wasn’t being attacked. They weren’t even in his bedroom room, they were still the tent. Jeremy looked frightened, as if he just saw a ghost.

“W-what happened?” Michael asked, feeling too disoriented and confused to comprehend what was going on.

“You were screaming in your sleep.”

“What?”

“You were having a nightmare.”

Still shaking in his sleeping bag, Michael realized that Jeremy was right. Considering the dream was so freaky, it couldn’t of been real. It was just a nightmare.

“Are you ok?” Jeremy asked, worried for his best friend.

Even after being shaken to his very core from that awful dream, Michael didn’t want Jeremy to think he was a scared little wimp, who couldn’t even handle a stupid made up story.

“O-oh yeah, I-I’m fine.” he lied.

“You sure?”

“Uh-huh, yeah.”

“Oh… uh ok” Jeremy wasn’t sure what to believe Michael or not. He was still worried for his best friend, considering the sweat dripping down from his forehead, but if he said he’s fine than maybe he really is, and he should just leave him be.

Jeremy said “Goodnight.” before slipping back into his sleeping bag, once again leaving Michael alone with his frightening thoughts.

Michael was too startled to even say goodnight back to Jeremy. Even though he new the nightmare wasn’t real, he just couldn’t shake the fear of being chased by zombies, the creepy creatures trying to pull him underground with them, and break into his house. And that wasn’t even the worst part. The thing about his dream that terrified him the most, was that he couldn’t save Jeremy. No matter how hard he tried to keep his best friend safe, Michael lost him to the zombies. And there was nothing scarier to Michael than losing his best friend. He rolled on to his side and looked at Jeremy, lying down in in his bag, eyes closed, but not asleep. He just looked so peaceful, and so safe, that it was actually very comforting to watch, and made Michael feel less scared. Michael didn’t know what came over him, but without thinking, he suddenly crawled out of his sleeping bag, and tried squeezed into Jeremy’s, right next to him. Jeremy squirmed a bit when he felt his best friend crammed right up against him.

He rolled over and asked “Michael, what are you doing in my bag?”

Michael didn’t know how to answer that.

“Oh nothing much. Just... chillin.” He awkwardly replied.

Despite Michael’s unconvincing reassurance, Jeremy had a feeling he knew what was really going on.

“Did that nightmare freak you out?” He asked.

Michael didn’t exactly have a better explanation for why he was trying to squeeze himself into an already occupied sleeping bag, like fitting two feet into one sock. Plus he was getting way too tired to keep up the charade.

“A little.” His eyes looked away in shame.

“What happened?”

The two boys then both sat up, since it was difficult lying down in the same sleeping bag. Michael hesitated for his mouth went completely dry with embarrassment, but seeing that warm and caring smile on Jeremy’s face suddenly made talking a whole lot easier.

“You know that scary story that you told earlier?”

“Yeah?”

“Well… I dreamt that… it came true.”

“What?”

“I dreamt that zombies were rising from the ground in this yard, and were trying to drag us down with them, like in the story.”

“Oh…”

“And the worst part was…”

Michael started to choke back his tears, the horrible vision flashed in his brain.

“What? It’s ok, you can tell me.”

Michael really didn’t want to, but that didn’t stop his mouth from saying “You were the one to turn into a zombie.”

“Huh?”

“You turned into a zombie, you attacked me, and I couldn’t save you.”

Tears started to run down Michael’s cheeks.

“I’m s-sorry. I-I know you i-it was just a story, a-and I didn’t want to seem like a w-wimp to you, but I-I’m really scared, I try to be brave, but-“

Michael was then pulled into an embracing hug from his best friend as he whispered in his ear.

“You are the bravest person I’ve ever known.”

Michael’s tears stopped flowing.

“I… I am.”

“Of coarse you are. Everyday we do such cool stuff together, and there’s no one else I’d rather do it with.”

Michael pulled away from the hug and wiped his eyes dry on his pyjamas.

“Really?”

“Really. Look, I’m sorry I scared you, but I promise that story is just made up, it’s not real. And it’s ok that you’re scared, cause I get scared too sometimes.”

Jeremy then looked down at his pillow, and thought back to before he left his house, for the sleepover. When he told his dad that he wanted to bring a different pillow, that’s not what he actually wanted. Jeremy didn’t end up bringing a different pillow, but he did bring something else.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

Michael nodded in response.

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

He nodded again.

Jeremy grad his pillow, held it in his arms, and said “I was really scared about sleeping over here..... And when I get scared, this helps me calm down.” Jeremy then slipped his hand between the pillow and the case, and pulled out what seemed to be an old, blue, blanket, with dolphins spouting water from their blowholes all over it.

“This is my baby blanket.” Jeremy held the old blanket in his hands. “I keep it hidden in my closet for safe keeping, but I like to have it with me when I’m feeling scared.”

It made Michael feel better knowing that even his best friend gets scared from time to time as well. That maybe instead of trying to seem brave in front of one another, they can be honestly scared together.

“I know it’s stupid, but-“

“No, are you kidding? That’s not stupid at all .”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

A smile of relief appeared for a brief moment on Jeremy’s face.

It faded away quickly before he said “Swear you won’t tell anyone.”

“Yes, I swear.”

“Ok... good.”

A minute of silence passed before Jeremy realized he couldn’t just send Michael back to his sleeping bag after sharing a moment so intense between them.

“Hey,” he said, “you wanna stay in my bag with me?”

A cheerful smile appeared on Michael’s face as he replied “Sure.”

Both boys lied down as Jeremy said “And if any zombies ever try to attack us,” he wrapped his arm around Michael, “I’ll protect you.”

Michael then wrapped his arm around Jeremy. “I’ll protect you too.”

It wasn’t long before the two fell asleep in the comfort of each other’s arms.

 

* * *

 

The morning sun shined brightly through the flaps of the tent, but it was Camila yelling “WAKE UP BOYS! WE HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES WAITING FOR YOU INSIDE!” that woke them up.

Jeremy and Michael were out of the tent,and sitting at the kitchen table in a millisecond, pilling their plates with stacks of chocolate filled goodness.

As the two boys scarfed down their last pancake, Ligaya asked her son “So honey, did you and Jeremy sleep well last night?”

Michael looked over at Jeremy, whose last pancake bite could barely fit in his mouth, smiled and said “Never slept better!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm not dead!  
> I told you I'd be back with a baby boyfs fic. Sorry it took so long, but between summer camp, and then work and school starting, I just couldn't find the time. But I'm glad to be back!
> 
> Enjoy this story, while I write a couple of Christmas fics for the holiday season!
> 
> Thanks for waiting, and keep reading!


End file.
